Dist. 52 forum Sunday

Rep. Johnson, challenger Nordbye speak at Arts Center

The first meeting between the two men running for Oregon House District 52 will be happen Sunday afternoon. Voters will hear the candidates speak and get the chance to ask them questions.

The event will be from 3-5 p.m. at Columbia Center for the Arts, Third and Cascade streets in downtown Hood River.

Rep. Mark Johnson of Hood River, the first-term incumbent, is challenged for the House seat by Peter Nordbye of Rhododendron, a political newcomer and former teacher and school principal.

Dist. 52 includes all of Hood River County, a large portion of Clackamas County and a small part of Multnomah County in the Corbett environs, west of Cascade Locks.

Sunday’s forum, billed as “Meet the Candidates,” is hosted by Hood River residents Lynda Dallman and Pat Schmuck. In the first part of the forum, moderator Kirby Neumann-Rea of Hood River News will ask the candidates questions on issues including job creation, school funding, Oregon Health Plan, PERS and transportation. This will be followed by an intermission in which refreshments will be served and beverages will be available.

Following the break, the candidates will answer questions written down by audience members.

Nordbye defeated Marv Hollingsworth of Brightwood in the May Primary for the Democratic nomination. Johnson, a member of Hood River County School Board and a local contractor, was unopposed in the Republican race.

Johnson has opened a campaign headquarters downtown, also at Third and Cascade, and the Democratic Party has a campaign office a few blocks away on Second near State Street.

Ballots were mailed last week to military and overseas voters, and the rest of Hood River County’s registered voters will receive their ballots on or about Oct. 19, two weeks before the Nov. 6 General Election.

The District 52 campaign is one highlight of a ballot that includes local city and county elections, U.S. House Dist. 2 and U.S. President.